They Hold Prerequisites for Love (but I can't help loving you)
by Defender of the Dogma
Summary: An alternate universe Hawk and Dove fanfic. No powers, but when Don is born, he has a severe mental retardation. That doesn't stop Hank from loving him. Mostly set in the Justice League Unlimited ages, as this is kinda what their life could have been. A touching brother fic, with some adorable Don. Renamed!
1. Chapter 1

**As in all my Hawk and Dove stories, Jasmine is Hank and Don's mother.**

 **Disclaimer: I own nothing, this goes for all chapters.**

 **Chapter 1**

Hank was excited. He'd just been told that he would have a new little brother, and he couldn't be more excited. To his 4 year old mind, this was about the best thing that could possibly happen. He gave an exuberant cry, and reverently laid a hand on his mother's stomach, slightly swollen, and gave an excited giggle.

"I love him alweady!"

Jasmine smiled. "We're going to have to be very gentle with him, okay? He's going to be very small and break easily. So we're going to have to be careful."

"I will be mommy. I'll be _sooooo_ careful. Nothing's gonna hurt him. I won't let it."

Jasmine gave a wary smile. She was pretty sure that pretty sure that soon Hank would be bored with the prospect, especially after the baby arrived. She was also sure that Hank wasn't going to be gentle. He never was. Oh well. She'd find some way to protect the new baby from his older brother.

Suddenly, Hank started running away.

"Hank, what are you doing?"

"Making cards, mommy! Welcome cards for baby!"

Jasmine shook her head. Hank just didn't get it.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

 **Chapters will start getting longer soon, I promise. Open to any suggestions!**

"Ferrari la Sportz!" They were having baby boy name suggestions, and Irwin really seemed to be getting into the spirit of things. Jasmine gave her husband a withering glare.

"You don't like it? What about Validious? Severone? Cornelius?"

Jasmine picked up a spoonful of mashed potatoes and aimed.

"Oh, oh, I know! Maximus von Claude." Jasmine picked up a knife.

"One more word out of you…"

"I like Hank Jr." Jasmine and Irwin turned and stared. Hank looked up from his food as if he hadn't said anything special. "What?"


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

"Hank we're back!"

"Whatisit, whatisit, whatisit? Is it a boy mommy? Am I gonna have a brother?"

Jasmine smiled. "It's a boy."

"YES! It's a boy, it's a boy, it's a boy! I'm gonna have a brother! I'm gonna be a big brother! I have a little brother!" Hank flew throughout the house yelling at the top of his lungs while his parents smiled.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

 **So if you liked my kid normal Hank and Don stuff, then I suggest my stories Protecting, Who am I Beating up This Time (this is fluffy, not even remotely gross, I promise) A Life of Shadows, and even A Brother's Love. I have lots of Hawk & Dove fanfics, but these are the bro ones.**

 **I also recommend Maybe not so Fun by Sand Wolf 579. Also a great bro fic. Bon Appetit!**

"Hank, come here." Hank walked over to his mother, whose stomach was now big enough that Hank had expressed suspicions about where his missing soccer ball had gone, and looked up curiously. His mother lightly took his hand, a pressed it to her stomach.

"Feel carefully."

Hank gasped in surprise. "Mommy, my ball is there! I felt it hit me!"

"No silly, that's the baby kicking you. He's getting stronger."

"Ohhh! Soon mommy? Soon?"

"It should be a while."

"But I want to play with him!"

"There'll be lot's of time for that. I… oh!" Jasmine gasped, and clutched her belly.

"Did he kick hard?" Hank asked worriedly.

"No, this is something else. Get your father. I'm going to the hospital."

 **To be continued! Duh duh daaaaaa!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

"Mommy, mommy, what happened to baby? Is my brother alwight?"

"Hank, the doctors… the doctors said… there's something wrong with the baby. He's not… right. He might not survive. He could die." Hank's eyes grew wide. "But if he lives… they think he won't be… as smart as you. He'll never be. He might not even learn to walk. Or talk. We just don't know."

"But… but mommy…"

"I know baby. I know."

Okay, so now that I've got all my background, I can really get started.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

22 year old Hank walked through the door as quietly as he could, but still was unable to avoid being slammed by a 17 year old little brother, who proceeded to hug the living daylights out of him. Hank grinned, and hugged his brother back, the excited teen hardly able to restrain himself at the joyous return of his brother.

"Hank you're back! You were gone so long!"

"Yeah, I was buddy, but I'm back now. What'd you do today?"

"I made a picture!"

"Really?"

"Uh huh."

"That's great. How about I go make some supper."

\- the next day

Hank was walking home again from work, shivering in the rain that was pouring down in crashing tidal waves of fury. But… in front of his house, there was a person. Hank couldn't see them well due to the blinding sheets of rain, but the person was shielding their eyes from the rain with their arms; important, since they seemed to be looking up and… yelling? Not yelling in fear or anger, but like they were trying to talk over a loud noise. Hank ran over, and reached… Don. What?

"Don, what are you doing?" There could be any number of reasons. Don had his own outlook on life that no one else could understand, and it had lead to many strange occurrences in the past.

"Hank! I'm making the sky feel better!"

Hank had no idea what Don was talking about, and he didn't want to try to understand in the middle of the ceremony of heavenly weeping, so he simply took Don by the arm.

"I think it feels better now. We need to go inside."

"But it's still crying!"

Hank was beginning to get an idea of Don's idea. "Well, you can talk to it from inside, okay? You're gonna get sick out here. Come one."

Hank lead Don inside, immediately herding the smaller boy to the room they both shared for a change of clothes. Don immediately started trying to open a window. This was why Hank kept them locked. Hank pulled out some cloths for Don while the boy wrestled with the lock, lacking the dexterity to open it, until he gave up and started yelling at the sky through the window.

Hank sighed. Think fast… often times taking care of Don required some serious creativity. Suddenly he grinned, and searched through his drawer, until he found the intended possession. A walkie talkie.

"Hey Don!" Don turned around. Hank turned on the walkie talkie. "Here. Talk to the sky with this." Don happily started talking into the walkie talkie, sitting on the window seat, leaning against the smooth glass. Hank finished laying out the clothes, and began getting Don dressed.

When he was done, the it was still raining, and Don was still talking to the sky. Hank considered the situation, and sat down on his bed to watch. Sometimes when Don did stuff like this, he did dangerous things. Like mess with knives. Best to see what he would do this time. Besides, Hank was pretty sure Don had forgotten about him by now.

WWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW

"I did it! I made the sky stop crying!" Don lept up in jubilation, as the rain finally stopped.

"Good job, Don! How about you explain all this to me."

"I saw the sky crying, and I talked to it. I don't like it when people cry, and no one talks to the sky. Maybe that's why it's so lonely. I wouldn't like it if no one talked to me." And to Don, Hank knew, it really was that simple. The sky was sad, so he talked to it. The sky's heart was broken, so Don fixed it. Simple as that.

Don was the sweetest person Hank knew. He didn't understand much, but he couldn't stand to see people cry. He loved making people smile. He was almost always happy, and always wanted to help someone else. And celebrate…

"Hank we need ice cream!"

… with ice cream.

 **Please help give me ideas! Writer's block!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

 **Hi, I'm doing this one on request! Thank you so much for the inspiration! I also tend to write these kinds of fanfictions, so it came sorta naturally. Thanks for the help!**

 **Also, do not worry: no one dies or is seriously hurt. Not in this story (though in some of my other's that does happen - but not in this one).**

 **This is also kinda ironic, because two days ago I was on the family motorcycle, and we got directly hit by an ambulance! So… yeah. But I thank Jesus our injuries weren't worse!**

There was danger. There was a car. There was a bunny. And there was Don. Don leapt forward, desperate to save the imperiled rabbit. Hank's head swung around to track his brother, before his eyes went wide with terror.

"No!"

Don's outstretched fingers intersected the soft fluff of the bunny's coat, shoving it out of danger.

The merciless form of smooth metal struck Don in the side, launching him to skid across the pavement, skipping like a stone across water. The car never stopped moving.

Hank never heard his own cries as he tore toward his brother, his baby brother who lay so limp on the ground.

Falling to his knees beside him, he tried to turn him over as gently as possible, resting the boys head in his lap.

"Don?" His voice was raw, terrified, broken. Please be okay, please, please, please be okay…

Don's head turned sluggishly toward his brother, sky blue eyes fluttered open and attempted to fix on Hank's face.

"Do you know your name? Do you know who I am?" Hank knew he should stick to one question at a time, but what if Don didn't know him? What if Don never remembered anything? Hank had to do something!

"'Course I 'now you, Han'. Brother. I'm Don. Know that."

"Good, good, that's good." Hank scrabbled for his cellphone, fumbling at the power button. His shaking fingers mistyped the password, and he had to try again.

"Hello, I need an ambulance at the intersection of Ditko and Skeates streets. My brother's been hit by a car."

Hank flew threw his apps desperately, finally selecting flashlight. Holding Don's head steady with one hand, he used the other to shine the light in the teen's pupils were different sizes. Bad bad bad. That means concussion.

Hank scanned over the rest of Don's body, taking in the scrapes and bruises. There was a rather large lump on his head, but hardly any blood. The scrapes adorning Don's body were wide, but didn't seem very deep.

Hank breathed a little easier. He didn't think Don was in too much danger… he'd be fine. He'd be fine. He had to be. "Donny, I need you to focus on what I'm saying."

"Kay. There was a bunny Hank. Is the bunny okay?"

Hank barely glanced up, but didn't see any bunnies anywhere. Probably the thing had hopped off.

"The bunny's fine, Don. You saved it." Stupid little brother. Trying to save anything and everything, no matter what. Stupid, stupid little brother…

"Did you get hurt?"

"No, Donny, I'm fine. Can you tell me where it hurts on you? Where your boo boos are?"

"Umm… I'm hurt?"

Was this good? Bad? Was Don too hurt to feel pain, or just in shock? Would this pass, were there head injuries?"

"Close your eyes, Donny." No need for him to see anything. Don's reactions didn't always line up with reality, and Hank wasn't sure what to do if he started hyperventilating.

"Do I have owies?"

"You have some cuts. Some people should be here soon to take you to a place with special band-aids."

"Ooh! I want one with rainbows. Or flowers. Pretty ones! Would you like a pretty band-aid Hank?"

Well, he was talking. Hank was sure that was good. He still sounded woozy, though, and wasn't talking fast as normal. Still… he wasn't bleeding out or anything… shock could account for not feeling pain… maybe Don would be okay. But Hank wouldn't stop worrying till every evidence of Don's accident was wiped away.

The ambulance pulled up then, prompting Don to forget Hank's instructions and snap his eyes open to see the pretty lights. Besides, Don had always wanted to see the inside of an ambulance. How could he help but look?

The paramedics rushed forward, and began to lift him onto a stretcher. Don giggled at the feel.

"He has a mental retardation." Hank forced out, forcing himself to his feet. "And a concussion, right now, I think."

"It's going to be okay." One of the paramedics assured him. "We'll take him to the hospital and it'll be okay."

Hank bit his lip and hopped into the ambulance. He tried to stay out of the way, not wanting anything to interfere with the care of his little brother.

* * *

"He should be fine."

Hank's gasp of relief seemed to encompass the entirety of his being. Don would be okay. He'd be his normal hyper self again soon, laughing and trying to fix anything that came his way. He was going to be alright. Hank was going to kill him!

Did the child have no grasp of priorities? They were going to have a long long talk about being careful, and moving vehicles, and they _could_ talk, and Hank had known that Don would live, but this was different somehow and everything was flowing out of him -

"Can I see him?"

"Right this way."

Hank followed the doctor into Don's room, where the boy was ahhing over some especially sparkly band aids and stickers. Don's head shot up when Hank walked into the room, grinning brightly and waving.

Hank felt a smile break out over his face, erasing the remnants of tightness from his chest and flowing into the purest form of joy he'd felt in years.

"Hank! You're here! The nice ladies gave me stickers and balloons!"

This was also true, and a variety of Elmo and smiley face balloons bobbed about by the ceiling, begging to be taken home, and cried over if they deflated. Don did not do well when anthropomorphic balloons deflated. And if they popped… well that time Don had been inconsolable. Flower balloons worked much much better. Or just solid colored ones. These particular balloons might never leave their hospital home, or Hank would have to tell Don about how they'd 'flown away to join their balloon family'.

"Well that was so nice of them!" Hank made a show of admiring the balloons. "So, how you feeling, sport?"

"Great! I made lots of new friends, and there was a girl and she was sad, but I made her happy! And I got stickers! Look, this one has a rainbow!"

Don had always been a sucker for bright colors. "That's so pretty, Don!" Hank walked over and sat down next to Don, pulling his little brother against his side. Don leaned into Hank's embrace and sighed happily, always up for cuddling.

"You know," Hank murmured, brushing a hand over Don's cheek. "you're more important than a bunny."

Don hummed, and snuggled further into his brother. "I wasn't thinking about that. Besides, I don't think people should be like: 'you're less important so you die!'. That's mean. The bunny can't help not being like us."

"I know, Donny. But sometimes, you just gotta make decisions about what's most important."

"Bad people do that stuff to people not like them. Make them die. I'm not a bad guy."

"No, you sure aren't." This was very, very true. Don may not be smart, but he was the kindest person Hank had ever met. And wasn't that just what people wanted out of each other? Kindness? Who was to judge Hank's brother for not being as smart as someone else? Don had love. What else could anyone else want?


End file.
